Chronology Of Provisional Irish Republican Army Actions (1980–1989)

This is a chronology of activities by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) from 1980 to 1989. For actions before and after this period see Chronology of Provisional Irish Republican Army actions.

1980

January–March

* 2 January: An ex-Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) soldier, Samuel Lundy, was shot dead by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), at his workplace, Kingsmills, near Bessbrook, County Armagh.
* 3 January: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officer Robert Crilly was shot dead at his workplace, Main Street, Newtownbutler, County Fermanagh, by the IRA.
* 6 January: Three UDR soldiers (James Cochrane, Robert Smyth, Richard Wilson) were killed on patrol at Burren Bridge, near Castlewellan, County Down, by a landmine.
* 12 January: RUC officer David Purse was shot dead when an IRA unit ambushed a foot patrol at the main gate of Seaview football ground, Shore Road, Skegoneill, Belfast.
* 17 January: An IRA bomb detonated prematurely on a train near Dunmurry, County Antrim. One of the bombers (Kevin Delaney) and two civilians (Mark Cochrane and Max Olorunda) were killed.
* 18 January: Prison officer Graham Cox was shot dead by the IRA while driving home from Magilligan Prison, Limavady Road, Stradreagh, near Derry.
* 26 January: British soldier Errol Pryce was shot dead while on foot patrol by an IRA sniper on Whiterock Road, Ballymurphy, Belfast.
* 5 February: off-duty UDR soldier Aubrey Abercrombie was shot dead by the IRA at his farm in Edenmore, near Kinawley, Fermanagh.
* 11 February: two RUC officers (Winston Howe and Joseph Rose) were killed and a soldier was badly injured when the IRA detonated an landmine on the main Rosslea–Lisnaskea road.
* 16 February: British soldier Mark Coe was shot dead by an IRA unit outside his home, Bielefeld, West Germany.
* 6 March: A former UDR soldier, Henry Livingstone, was shot dead on his farm at Cortyna, near Tynan, County Armagh.
* 15 March: British soldier John Bateman was shot dead by an IRA sniper in Crossmaglen, South Armagh.
* 21 March: British soldier Sean Walker died two weeks after the IRA detonated a remote-controlled bomb in Crossmaglen, County Armagh, as his patrol passed by.

April–June

* 1 April: IRA terrorist Robert Carr died nine days after being wounded in a premature bomb explosion, Customs Office, Newry, County Down.
* 4 April: RUC officer Bernard Montgomery was shot dead by the IRA at his workplace, Glenbank Industrial Estate, Ligoniel, Belfast.
* 9 April: RUC patrol ambushed by an IRA unit on Stewartstown Road, Suffolk, Belfast; one officer (Stephen Magill) was shot dead.
* 11 April: An off-duty RUC reserve officer, Fred Wilson, was shot dead by the IRA while on his way to work on Franklin Street, Belfast.
* 25 April: the IRA shot dead a civilian (Michael Madden) at his home, Lenadoon Avenue, Belfast, as an alleged British informant.
* 2 May: An undercover British Army unit was ambushed by an IRA unit on the Antrim Road, Belfast; in the ensuing gun battle, Captain Herbert Westmacott was killed.
* 7 June: UDR soldier Richard Latimer was shot dead by the IRA at his shop, Main Street, Newtownbutler, Fermanagh.
* 28 June: An ex-UDR soldier, William Elliott, was shot dead by the IRA at a cattle market, Ballybay, County Monaghan.

July–September

* 1 July: IRA volunteer Terence O'Neill was shot dead by the RUC while running away from Whiterock Community Centre, Ballymurphy, Belfast.
* 19 July: An off-duty British soldier, Christopher Watson, was shot dead by the IRA while drinking in the Village Inn, Rosemount, Derry.
* 27 July: British soldier Robert Thompson was killed when the IRA detonated a remote-controlled bomb as a British foot patrol crossed the Moy Bridge, near Aughnacloy, County Tyrone.
* 3 August: An off-duty UDR soldier, William Clarke, was shot dead by an IRA sniper while travelling in his car along laneway, Gortnessy, near Pettigo, County Donegal.
* 9 August: British soldier Brian Brown was killed in an IRA bomb attack on a foot-patrol in Forkill, County Armagh.
* 16 August: A Catholic civilian, Colette Meek, was accidentally shot and killed by the IRA during a sniper attack on Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) mobile patrol, Alliance Avenue, Ardoyne, Belfast.
* 4 September 1980: Protestant civilian Ross Hearst was abducted by the IRA outside a friend's home, Silver Stream, near Monaghan. He was found shot dead several hours later at Wards Cross, near Middletown, County Armagh.
* 12 September: RUC officer Wallace Allen, who had been abducted twelve days earlier by the IRA while driving a milk lorry near Newtownhamilton, County Armagh, was found shot dead at Trainor's Bridge, near Newtownhamilton, County Armagh.
* 23 September: An off-duty RUC reservist, Ernest Johnston, was shot dead while driving into the laneway of his home, Lisrace, near Roslea, County Fermanagh.
* 30 September: An ex-Royal Ulster Constabulary officer, Robert Shields, was shot at his workplace, ambulance depot, Royal Victoria Hospital, Falls Road, Belfast.

October–December

* 10 October: UDR soldier James Hewitt was killed in an IRA booby-trap bomb left under his car, parked at cattle mart, Tandragee Road, Portadown, County Armagh.
* 13 October: Garda Síochána officer Seamus Quaid was shot dead by the IRA during an exchange of gunfire, shortly after stopping a vehicle containing an IRA unit while on Garda mobile patrol at Ballyconnick, near Cleariestown, County Wexford.
* 27 October: seven Irish republican prisoners, including Brendan Hughes, Tommy McKearney and Raymond McCartney, began the 1980 hunger strike.
* 11 November: British soldier Owen McQuade was shot dead by the IRA while sitting in a stationary British Army minibus in the main driveway of Altnagelvin Hospital, Derry.
* 12 November: Catholic civilian Oliver Walsh was killed by a land mine while travelling in his car, Lislea, near Camlough, County Armagh. His car was mistaken for an undercover RUC mobile patrol.
* 14 November: Peter Valente, an IRA operative, was found shot dead as an alleged informer in an entry off Highfield Drive, Highfield, Belfast.
* 26 November: Ulster Defence Regiment soldier Norman Donaldson was shot dead by the IRA while leaving an RUC base in Derrygonnelly, County Fermanagh.
* 6 December: Protestant civilian Heather Pollock was shot in her home during a sniper attack on a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) mobile patrol, Strabane, County Tyrone. She died three weeks later.
* 2 December: the IRA injured five people when it bombed a British Army barracks in London.Oppenheimer p. 86
* 16 December: IRA prisoner Gerard Tuite, who had been remanded in connection with 1978 bombing offences in London, escaped from Brixton Prison in London, along with two non-republican prisoners (including Jimmy Moody).
* 24 December: IRA bomb found in base cinema of RAF Shrivenham. Cinema was evacuated and bomb successfully defused.

1981

January–February

* 1 January: Eugene Simons, a Catholic, was abducted by the IRA somewhere in the Castlewellan area, County Down. His remains were found, partially buried in a bogland, Newtown, near Knockbridge, County Louth, on 15 May 1984.He was allegedly an IRA volunteer, but he may have been a civilian, who had betrayed the whereabouts of bomb-making material.
* 8 January: an IRA incendiary bomb exploded at a RAF base in Uxbridge, West London. The barracks were evacuated before the blast, which was heard 2 miles away. The base was heavily damaged.
* 16 January: a UDR soldier (Ivan Toombs) was shot dead by the IRA at his workplace, Customs Office, Warrenpoint, County Down.
* 20 January: a British soldier (Christopher Shenton) was shot dead by an IRA sniper while manning an observation post overlooking the City Walls, Bogside, Derry. The IRA supergrass Raymond Gilmour was alleged to have taken part in this attack.
* 20 January: Maurice Gilvarry, Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteer, was found shot dead near Jonesborough, County Armagh, as an alleged informer.
* 21 January: Ulster Unionist Party politician Norman Stronge and his son James (who was an RUC officer) were killed in an IRA gun and grenade attack on their home, Tynan Abbey, near Middletown, County Armagh. The home was largely destroyed and eventually demolished.
* 25 January: a British soldier (Philip Barker) was shot dead by the IRA during an attack on a British Army pedestrian checkpoint at the junction of Berry Street and Church Lane, Belfast.
* 6 February: a British coal ship, ''Nelly M'', was bombed and sunk by an IRA unit while at anchor in Lough Foyle.
* 6 February: an RUC officer on foot patrol (Charles Lewis) was shot dead while standing outside a shop, Balmoral Avenue, Malone, Belfast.
* 10 February: an off-duty UDR soldier (David Montgomery) was shot dead at his workplace, a timber yard, Strand Road, Derry.
* 22 February: Patrick Trainor, a Catholic civilian, was found shot dead on waste ground, off Glen Road, Andersonstown, Belfast, as an alleged informer.

March–April

* 1 March: The 1981 hunger strike began in the Maze Prison when IRA prisoner Bobby Sands refused food.
* 27 March: an off-duty UDR soldier (John Smith) was shot dead while on his way to work, Cromac Street, Markets, Belfast.
* 2 April: an off-duty RUC officer (Kenneth Acheson) was killed when the IRA detonated a booby trap bomb attached to his car, shortly after leaving Bessbrook Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) base, County Armagh.
* 7 April: a masked gunman shot dead Joanna Mathers, who was collecting forms for the 1981 United Kingdom census at Anderson Crescent, Derry. Irish republicans were boycotting the census, which was being held during the 1981 hunger strike. Sinn Féin claimed the shooting was the work of people "frantically attempting to discredit the election campaign of hunger striker Bobby Sands". The RUC said that the gun had been used in two IRA "punishment shootings".
* 10 April: Bobby Sands was narrowly elected Member of Parliament at Westminster for the Northern Ireland constituency of Fermanagh and South Tyrone in a by-election. The moderate nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party did not run a candidate, which left Sands as the sole nationalist candidate. Sands had been on a hunger strike for Special Category Status for 41 days prior to being elected.
* 28 April: a UDR soldier (Richard McKee) was shot dead by an IRA sniper while travelling in British Army (BA) civilian-type van, Dublin Road, Castlewellan, County Down.

May–June

* 5 May: Bobby Sands died after 66 days on hunger strike. His death caused riots in many parts of Northern Ireland, and also in Ireland. An estimated 100,000 people attended his funeral.
* 5 May: an IRA volunteer was injured and another arrested in a gun battle in South Armagh. Twelve undercover British soldiers opened fire on a three-man IRA unit which resulted in a gun battle which lasted several minutes. The British troops fired nearly 700 rounds.
* 6 May: a RUC officer (Philip Ellis) was shot dead by an IRA sniper while on patrol in Duncairn Gardens, Belfast.
* 8 May: The IRA claimed responsibility for firing ten mortars at Newtownhamilton British Army/RUC base, County Armagh. Two British soldiers were injured.
* 9 May: a small bomb exploded at an oil terminal in the Shetland Islands, while Queen Elizabeth II was attending a nearby function to mark the opening of the terminal. A boiler was damaged but no-one was injured and the ceremony continued.
* 14 May: a RUC officer (Samuel Vallely) was killed when his patrol vehicle was hit by an IRA rocket on Springfield Road, Belfast. The rocket had been fired through the roof of the vehicle as it was driving along the road.
* 19 May: five British soldiers (John King, Michael Bagshaw, Paul Bulman, Andrew Gavin, and Grenville Winstone) were killed when their Saracen armoured personnel carrier was destroyed by a large IRA landmine planted in a culvert underneath Chancellors Road near Newry, County Armagh. Vehicle fragments and body parts were found over a 300-yard radius.
* 23 May: two British soldiers were injured when a British Army armoured vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by an IRA unit at Andersonstown, Belfast.
* 25 May: a UDR soldier (Thomas Ritchie) was shot dead by an IRA sniper while on patrol in Gulladuff, near Maghera, County Londonderry.
* 28 May: an off-duty RUC officer (Mervyn Robinson) was shot dead by the IRA outside Wayside Inn, Whitecross, near Bessbrook, County Armagh. On the same day, two IRA volunteers (Charles Maguire and George McBrearty) were killed in an undercover British Army ambush in Derry.
* 31 May: a RUC officer (Colin Dunlop) was shot dead by the IRA while guarding patient at Royal Victoria Hospital, Falls Road, Belfast. That same day, a British soldier (Michael O'Neill) was killed by a booby trap bomb in an abandoned car, Drumalane Road, Newry, County Down.
* 3 June: a Catholic civilian (Joseph Lynn) was killed during a sniper attack on a British Army foot patrol, Central Drive, Creggan, Derry.
* 5 June: an off-duty UDR soldier (Ronald Graham) was shot dead by the IRA, while delivering coal, Lisnaskea, Fermanagh.
* 10 June: eight IRA prisoners being held on remand at Crumlin Road Jail in Belfast escaped after taking prison officers hostage, taking their uniforms and shooting their way out of the prison using three handguns that had been smuggled in.
* 12 June: the IRA mortared Fort Pegasus British Army barracks in Belfast.
* 17 June: an off-duty RUC officer (Christopher Kyle) was shot dead near his home, Beragh, County Tyrone.
* 20 June: an off-duty RUC officer (Neal Quinn) was shot dead by the IRA while in the Bridge Bar, Newry, County Down. That same day, four mortars hit the MacRory Park British Army base in West Belfast, injuring four British soldiers. The IRA claimed responsibility and said it had evacuated a number of homes before the attack.
* 26 June: a Catholic civilian (Vincent Robinson) was shot dead by the IRA at Divis Flats, Belfast as an alleged informer.

July–December

* 8 July: John Dempsey, a 16 year old member of the Irish Republican Army Youth Section (IRAF), was shot dead by a British Army sniper during an arson attack on a bus depot, Falls Road, Belfast.
* 9 July: a RUC officer was shot and wounded in an IRA gun attack on Springhill Avenue in Belfast.De Baroid p. 245
* 10 July: the IRA carried out a blast-bomb attack on Fort Pegasus British Army barracks in Belfast.
* 13 July: a British soldier was shot and wounded in the arm by an IRA sniper, Springhill, Belfast.
* 16 July: 18 undercover British soldiers who were waiting in ambush position for an expected IRA roadblock were themselves ambushed by a six-man IRA unit near Glasdrumman, South Armagh. The IRA fired over 250 rounds from an M60 machine gun, killing Lance Corporal Gavin Dean and badly wounding another soldier (see Glasdrumman ambush).
* 21 July 1981: John Hazlett, a Protestant civilian, was shot dead while renovating premises, Bank Square, Maghera, County Londonderry. A fellow worker, an off duty UDR member, was the intended target.
* 2 August: two RUC officers (John Smyth and Andrew Wood) were killed when their mobile patrol vehicle struck an IRA landmine, Loughmacrory, near Omagh, County Tyrone. A British soldier lost both legs when his armoured vehicle was hit by a rocket.
* 5 September: an off-duty British soldier (Sohan Virdee) was shot dead by the IRA shortly after being lured to a house in Stranmillis Park, Stranmillis, Belfast.
* 7 September: two RUC officers (Mark Evans and Stuart Montgomery) were killed when their patrol vehicle struck an IRA landmine at Sessadonaghy, near Cappagh, County Tyrone.
* 12 September: an off-duty UDR soldier (Alan Clarke) was killed in an IRA gun attack while walking along Hall Street, Maghera, County Londonderry.
* 14 September: an off-duty RUC officer (John Proctor) was shot dead by the IRA while leaving Magherafelt Hospital, County Londonderry.
* 26 September: an off-duty RUC officer (George Stewart) was shot dead by the IRA while inside the Ann Boal Inn, Killough, County Down.
* 27 September: a Catholic civilian (Anthony Braniff) was found shot in an entry off Odessa Street, Falls, Belfast, as an alleged informer.
* 28 September: a RUC officer (Alexander Beck) was killed in an IRA rocket attack on a British patrol on Glen Road, Andersonstown, Belfast.
* 3 October: the hunger strike was called off, due to pressure from the remaining strikers' families who made it clear they would seek medical intervention to save their sons' lives.
* 5 October: an ex-Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) officer (Hector Hall) was shot dead by the IRA outside Altnagelvin Hospital, County Londonderry.
* 10 October: a nail-bomb blast at Ebury Bridge Road, Chelsea, London, near Chelsea Barracks killed two people (John Patrick Breslin and Nora Fields) and injured 40, including 23 soldiers, two children, and one guardsman who lost the sight of one eye.
* 17 October: Commandant General Royal Marines, Lieutenant-General Steuart Pringle lost a leg when an IRA car bomb attached to his car exploded outside his home in Dulwich, South London.
* 21 October: an off-duty UDR soldier (Julian Connolly) was shot dead outside his home at the Zoological Gardens, Antrim Road, Bellevue, Belfast.
* 26 October: a bomb exploded at a Wimpy Bar in Oxford Street, London, killing a bomb disposal officer (Kenneth Howorth) trying to defuse it.
* 9 November: an off-duty UDR soldier (Cecil Graham) was shot and wounded by the IRA while leaving relative's home in Lisnaskea, County Fermanagh. Graham died two days later.
* 10 November: the IRA shot dead an ex-UDR officer (Charles Neville) as he left his workplace, Industrial Estate, Loughgall Road, Armagh town.
* 12 November: a RUC officer lost both his legs when an IRA booby-trap bomb exploded underneath his car in Banbridge, County Down.
* 13 November: the home of the Attorney General for England and Wales and Attorney General for Northern Ireland, Sir Michael Havers, Woodhayes Road, Wimbledon, London, was bombed by the IRA.Staff Reporters. "Attorney General latest target", ''The Times'', London, 14 November 1981, pg 1. No one was injured as Havers and his family were in Spain at the time of the attack."Obituary: Lord Havers", ''The Times'', London, 3 April 1992, p. 19. However, a police constable standing guard outside the home was taken to hospital suffering from shock.
* 14 November: the IRA killed Ulster Unionist Party MP Rev Robert Bradford, at Community Centre, Finaghy, Belfast, along with another man (Kenneth Campbell), who was the caretaker of the premises. Irish Taoiseach Dr Garret FitzGerald, and former Taoiseach and opposition leader Charles Haughey, both condemned the killings in the Dáil Éireann. Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) leader John Hume accused the IRA of waging a campaign of "sectarian genocide".
* 17 November: a UDR soldier (Albert Beacom) and an RUC officer (Silas Lyttle) died from separate IRA attacks. Beacom was shot at his farm, Maguiresbridge, County Fermanagh. Lyttle died two months after being shot outside his shop, Ballygawley, County Tyrone.
* 18 November: an ex-Ulster Defence Regiment soldier (James McClintock) was shot dead by the IRA while on his way home from work, Newbuildings, County Londonderry.
* 19 November: a UDR soldier (John McKeegan) was shot dead by the IRA while delivering wood, Olympic Drive, Ballycolman, Strabane, County Tyrone.
* 28 November: a RUC officer (William Coulter) was killed by a remote controlled bomb hidden behind fencing as he patrolled Unity Flats, Peter's Hill, Belfast.
* Exact date unknown: Danny McIlhone, a Catholic civilian, was abducted by the IRA in Belfast during 1981. His remains eventually found, on general instructions from the IRA, buried in Ballynultagh, near Blessington, County Wicklow, on 8 November 2008.
*23 December: the IRA launched a Mortar attack on Belleek RUC station in Fermanagh, the attack was launched from a lorry parked in a hotel car park nearby. Some damage was done to the station but there were no serious injuries.

1982

* 1 January: a Protestant civilian (Samuel Pollock) was killed by a booby-trap bomb while entering the car of an off-duty UDR soldier's car in Newcastle, County Down.
* 8 January: an off-duty UDR soldier (Steven Carleton) was shot dead while working at petrol station, Antrim Road, Belfast.
* 19 January: John Torbitt, an alleged informant, died three weeks after being shot by the IRA at his home in Lenadoon, Belfast.
* 5 March: Seamus Morgan, an alleged informant, was shot dead by the IRA in Forkill, County Armagh.
* 11 March: a former UDR soldier (Norman Hanna) was shot dead by the IRA outside his workplace in Rathfriland, County Down.
* 15 March: the IRA detonated a large car-bomb on Bridge Street, Banbridge, County Down following a warning to evacuate the area. A Protestant civilian (Alan McCrum, 11) was killed.
* 23 March: a British coal ship, ''St. Bedan'', was bombed and sunk by an IRA unit while at anchor in Lough Foyle.
* 25 March: three British soldiers (Daniel Holland, Nicholas Malakos, and Anthony Rapley) were killed and five other people injured in an IRA gun attack on Crocus Street, off the Springfield Road in West Belfast.
* 28 March: an RUC officer (Norman Duddy) was shot dead by the IRA shortly after leaving church, Patrick Street, off Strand Road, Derry.
* 1 April: two British soldiers (Michael Burbridge and Michael Ward) were killed in an IRA sniper ambush shortly after leaving Rosemount British Army/Royal Ulster Constabulary base, Derry, traveling in a British Army van.
* 2 April: a RUC officer (David Brown) was badly wounded after being shot while travelling to New Barnsley British Army/Royal Ulster Constabulary base, Springfield Crescent, off Springfield Road, West Belfast. He died of his injuries two weeks later, on 16 April.
* 3 April: Patrick Scott, an alleged informant, was found shot dead by the IRA in the Lower Falls area of Belfast.
* 17 April: William Morrison, a Protestant civilian, was shot dead by the IRA at his farm at Middletown, County Armagh.
* 20 April: the IRA launched a massive bombing offensive in Northern Ireland. A bank in Strabane was hit by a 900 kg carbomb; a garage and car showroom in Armagh was destroyed by three firebombs; a car bomb exploded at the Linen Hall in Ballymena; a 900 kg carbomb exploded in Derry and another 900 kg device was detonated in Bessbrook followed by a smaller 40 kg device which detonated in Bessbrook some hours later, and finally another car bombing in Magherafelt which killed two Protestant civilians (Noel McCulloch and Wilbert Kennedy).
* 22 April: Raymond Devlin, an alleged criminal, was shot dead by the IRA at his home in Andersontown, Belfast.
* 27 April: an off-duty UDR soldier (Leslie Hamilton) was shot dead in an IRA gun attack while delivering bread to Long's Supermarket, Lisnagelvin, County Londonderry.
* 30 April: a British soldier (Colin Clifford) was killed when the vehicle in which he was traveling struck an IRA landmine, Meenatully, near Belleek, County Fermanagh.
* 4 May: a RUC officer (Samuel Caskey) was shot dead in an IRA sniper attack on RUC foot patrol, The Diamond, Derry.
* 12 May: an ex-UDR soldier (Thomas Cunningham) was shot dead in Fountain Park, Strabane, County Tyrone
* 11 June: an RUC officer (David Reeves) was killed by an IRA booby trap bomb while searching a garage, Carranbane Walk, Shantallow, County Londonderry.
* 15 June: an off-duty UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA in Strabane, County Tyrone.
* 18 June: a former RUC officer and current civilian RUC employee (Albert White) was shot dead by the IRA while driving his car in Newry, County Down.
* 28 June: over thirty homes were damaged after the IRA exploded a carbomb in the Springfield Road area of West Belfast.
* 20 July: the Hyde Park and Regents Park bombings: In Hyde Park, a bomb killed four members (Raymond Bright, Anthony Daly, Simon Tipper, and Vernon Young) of the British Army's Household Cavalry performing ceremonial duties in the park, and seven horses died or had to be put down. Another device exploded underneath a bandstand in Regent's Park, killing seven bandsmen (Graham Barker, John Heritage, Robert Livingstone, John McKnight, George Mesure, Keith Powell and Laurence Smith) from the British Army's Royal Green Jackets as they played music to spectators.
* 20 July: the IRA scored several hits on a British Army helicopter in an attack involving an M60 machine gun near Crossmaglen, County Armagh.''Fortnight Magazine'', No. 188, p. 14-19. Fortnight Publications, 1982.
* 27 July: IRA volunteers fired machine-guns and a rocket at two RUC Land Rovers from an occupied house in West Belfast. Four RUC officers were hurt.
* 9 August: there was a half hour gun battle between the IRA and British Army after a suspected bomb at Kilnasaggart Bridge, County Armagh disrupted train services.
* 25 August: an IRA member (Eamon Bradley) was shot dead by the British Army after leaving a pub on Racecourse Road, Derry.
* 27 August: a former UDR soldier (Wilfred McIlveen) was killed by a booby-trap bomb under his car in Milford, County Armagh.
* 28 August: 24 buses were firebombed by the IRA at the Ulsterbus depot in County Armagh.
* 20 September: a British soldier (Martin Jessop) was killed when an IRA unit fired a rocket at his observation post at Springfield Road British Army barracks in Belfast.
* 1 October: a RUC officer (John Eagleson) was shot dead by the IRA while travelling on his motorcycle to work, Drum Manor, near Cookstown, County Tyrone.
* 5 October: an off-duty RUC Reservist (Charles Crother) was shot dead by the IRA at his workplace in Altnagelvin, Derry.
* 14 October: the IRA carried out a bomb attack on a British Army foot-patrol in the Ballymurphy area of Belfast.
* 22 October: an off-duty UDR soldier (Thomas Cochrane) was kidnapped while travelling to work, Glennane, near Markethill, County Armagh. Found shot dead at Lislea, near Camlough, County Armagh, seven days later on 29 October 1982.
* 27 October: three RUC officers (Paul Hamilton, Alan McCloy, and Sean Quinn) were killed in an IRA landmine attack on their armoured patrol vehicle at Oxford Island, near Lurgan, County Armagh.
* 30 October: an IRA rocket hit an armoured vehicle carrying 12 British soldiers and RUC officers on Lower Falls Road, Belfast. No injuries were reported.
* 9 November: a RUC officer (Garry Ewing) and a civilian (Helen Woodhouse) were killed by a booby trap bomb attached to the car in which they were driving, which had been parked outside Lakeland Forum Leisure Centre, Enniskillen, County Fermanagh.
* 10 November: an off-duty UDR soldier (Charles Spence) was shot dead by the IRA shortly after leaving his workplace, the Customs Office, Armagh town.
* 11 November: three IRA volunteers (Sean Burns, Gervaise McKerr, and Eugene Toman) were shot dead in an undercover RUC ambush at a vehicle check point (VCP) at Tullygalley East Road, Craigavon, County Armagh.
* 16 November: the IRA killed UVF leader Lenny Murphy outside his girlfriend's house in Forthriver Park, Belfast. Murphy, who had been responsible for up to 20 sectarian killings which were carried out by his Shankill Butchers gang, was shot over 20 times at close range by two IRA volunteers.
* 27 November: the IRA shot dead a former RUC officer (John Martin) at his garage in Armagh, County Armagh.
* 19 December: an off-duty UDR soldier (Austin Smith) was shot dead by the IRA outside his home, Windmill Avenue, Armagh town.

1983

* 6 January: two RUC officers (Eric Brown and Brian Quinn) on patrol were shot dead by the IRA while sitting in a stationary RUC civilian-type car, Bridge Street, Rostrevor, County Down.
* 16 January: William Doyle, a judge, was shot dead by the IRA in Belfast after attending Sunday Mass at St Brigid's Roman Catholic Church, Derryvolgie Avenue, Malone, Belfast. A companion in his car escaped serious injury.
* 18 January: an off-duty RUC officer (John Olphert) was shot dead by the IRA at his supermarket, Nelson Drive, Caw, Derry.
* 27 January: the IRA's West Tyrone Brigade detonated a 300 lb car bomb outside Sion Mills RUC station, nobody was hurt but the station was badly damaged and had its roof blown off. Some nearby buildings were slightly damaged.
* 19 February: a civilian (Alan Price) was shot dead by the IRA while delivering mail, Arney, near Enniskillen, County Fermanagh. The usual postman, an off-duty Ulster Defence Regiment member, was the intended target.
* 20 February: a RUC officer (Edward Magill) was shot dead while standing outside the Warrenpoint Royal Ulster Constabulary base, County Down, by the IRA in a drive-by shooting.
* 21 February: a RUC officer (Gordon Wilson) on foot-patrol was killed by an IRA remote controlled bomb, hidden in derelict building, while on RUC foot patrol, Lower English Street, Armagh town.
* 25 February: an off-duty UDR soldier (Cecil McNeill) was shot dead by the IRA at his workplace, Ballygawley, County Tyrone.
* 2 March: a RUC officer (Lindsay McCormack) was shot dead by an IRA sniper while on foot-patrol, Serpentine Road, Greencastle, Belfast.
* 15 March: an off-duty RUC officer (Frederick Morton) was shot dead during an IRA ambush while driving his bread van, Tandragee Road, Newry, County Down.
* 17 March: the IRA launched a gun and rocket attack on a British mobile patrol in Ballymurphy, Belfast.De Baroid, p. 256
* 18 March: a British soldier was badly wounded after his Saracen armoured vehicle was hit with an IRA rocket in Ballymurphy, Belfast. The vehicle was sprayed with machine gun fire before the IRA unit escaped.
* 25 March: Brian Stack, an officer at Portlaoise Prison, was shot in the neck on South Circular Road, Dublin after leaving the National Stadium. He was hospitalised with severe brain damage and died on 29 September 1984.
* 31 March: the IRA carried out a bomb attack on a British patrol in the Falls Road, Falls, Belfast. One British soldier (Gerald Jeffrey) was badly injured and died of his wounds eight days later, on 7 April.
* 9 April: an off-duty British soldier (Richard Biddle) was killed by a booby trap bomb attached to his car in a car park off High Street, Omagh, County Tyrone.
* 13 April: an off-duty British Territorial Army soldier (Trevor Elliott) was shot dead by the IRA at his shop, Keady, County Armagh.
* 12 May: two British soldiers were injured when the IRA attempted to shoot down a Wessex helicopter in South Armagh.
* 16 May: an RUC officer (Gerald Cathcart) was shot dead by the IRA outside his home, Linkview Park, Malone, Belfast.
* 24 May: Andersonstown British Army barracks was devastated when the IRA detonated a massive van-bomb outside the front gate.De Baroid, p. 257
* 10 June: a British soldier (Geoffrey Curtis) was killed when the IRA detonated a remote controlled bomb hidden in a lamp-post when a British Army foot patrol passed, Glenalina Road, Ballymurphy, Belfast.
* 22 June: the IRA attempted to shoot down a Wessex helicopter with a battery of Mark 10 mortars over Crossmaglen, County Armagh. The pilot was forced to undertake an evasive manoeuvre, dropping the helicopter's cargo into the street below. Four mortars failed to explode and the rest landed in the vicinity of the base, causing some damage and slightly injuring a British soldier. A subsequent investigation found that if the mortar base plate had been aligned "five to ten degrees" differently the projectiles likely would have hit the helicopter.
* 13 July: four UDR soldiers (Ronald Alexander, Thomas Harron, Oswell Neely, and John Roxborough) were killed in a land mine attack while on mobile patrol, near Ballygawley, County Tyrone.
* 10 August: Fort Pegasus British Army base in Belfast came under heavy machine gun fire from a number of IRA units. On the Whiterock road a British Army land-rover was hit by IRA sniper fire
* 23 August: an off-duty UDR soldier (Ronald Finlay) was shot dead as he left his workplace in Strabane, County Tyrone.
* 24 August: a Protestant shopkeeper (William Young) was shot dead following an altercation with an IRA unit at his shop, Magazine Street, Derry.
* 19 September: Lilly McCollum, a Protestant civilian, died two months after being injured by a booby trap bomb, hidden in outbuilding at her Ulster Defence Regiment member brother's farm, Tullylagen, near Cookstown, County Tyrone. She was injured on 9 July 1983. Two of her grandsons, Reginald and Nigel, both soldiers, would also be killed in the Troubles more than a decade later.
* 20 September: an ex-Ulster Defence Regiment soldier (John Truckle) was killed by a booby trap bomb attached to his car outside his home, Woodside Hill, Portadown, County Armagh.
* 25 September: 38 IRA prisoners took part in the Maze Prison escape. A guard (James Ferris) died of a heart attack after being stabbed during the escape, and six others were injured when shot or stabbed. Half were recaptured in a short period of time, and several others were eventually recaptured. One escapee died while trying to swim to safety. Others were never recaptured, finding haven in the Republic of Ireland or the United States until the cessation of hostilities after which some returned home.
* 6 October: two RUC officers (James Ferguson and William Finlay) were shot dead in an IRA ambush on their foot patrol, Meadowlands, Downpatrick, County Down.
* 10 October: a Catholic civilian (Sean McShane), mistaken for an off-duty RUC officer, was shot dead by the IRA while in bookmaker's shop, Monaghan Street, Newry, County Down.
* 15 October: a British soldier was killed when the IRA detonated a bomb as a British mobile patrol passed in the Creggan area of Derry.
* 24 October: an off-duty UDR soldier (Cyrus Campbell) was shot dead by the IRA while driving car at his farm, Carricklongfield, near Aughnacloy, Tyrone.
* 28 October: a RUC officer (John Hallawell) was shot dead by the IRA in Sheelin Park, Ballymagroarty, Derry.
* 31 October: Three RUC constables were wounded in an ambush carried out by an IRA unit that opened fire on their mobile patrol from a van on Ballymoyer Road, between Whitecross and Newtownhamilton, south County Armagh.
* 4 November: the IRA detonated a time-bomb hidden in the ceiling of a classroom, which exploded during a lecture to Royal Ulster Constabulary members, Ulster Polytechnic, Jordanstown, County Antrim. Two of the RUC officers (Stephen Fyfe and John Martin) giving a lecture at the time died instantly, another (William McDonald) died of his injuries on 12 August 1984.
* 5 November: an off-duty RUC officer (John McFadden) was shot dead by the IRA outside his home, Bamford Park, Rasharkin